


foolish 'n feisty

by peachiexxx



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dadza, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hybrids, No Beta read we die like men, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Raccoon Tommy, Tommy-centric, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, oh also other ppl besides tommy are hybrids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachiexxx/pseuds/peachiexxx
Summary: raccoon hybrid tommy fic pog. homeless little orphan runs into two depressed sons and their tired dad. only fun can ensue.
Relationships: No romance - Relationship, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 30
Kudos: 740





	1. butcher

**Author's Note:**

> btw in this, hybrids can hide their features, and they are generally looked down upon  
> tommy has the following features:  
> enhanced senses, the ability to see in the night (as well as other nocturnal habits), those weird furry paw hands w/ claws, a tail, ears, and that dark black furry mask on his face. he can hide all physical features when he wishes to. also he can eat things like trash more than most humans without getting sick.

The night was cold. The few stars that were visible twinkled tauntingly overhead, the majority being hidden behind what could only be smog. Down on earth, though, street lamps were dotted along the road, lighting up the dim neighborhood in their soft off-white glow. It was a quiet evening- save for the occasional car whirring past or the rustle of leaves from the trees overhead.

The neighborhood wasn’t particularly noisy or busy during daylight hours, either. Still though, there was always a pedestrian walking by or a car rumbling about, not to mention the busy shops brimming with activity. Now, everyone had gone home to their warm beds, needing to be well rested for their next day of doing exactly what they did every other day.

It was an average night, empty and quiet and cold- in other words, it was a good opportunity.

Tommy always liked to be active at night. Whether it be due to his partial raccoon nature, or because it made getting things without getting caught easier, he always tried to be ready to go out after the sunset.

Admittedly, his plan was… a bit overzealous. If it worked, though, it’d be completely worth it. After all, he’d be supplied with food and water for the next week!

It was risky, though.

He had found shelter in a small alley tucked in-between two buildings. One of them had been a little deli, owned privately by a sweet couple who would occasionally give him leftovers. Since then, though, the deli had been run out of business, and the building was now dark and vacant, a large “for sale” sign hanging from the front window. The other building was a flat block (although it was a rather quaint one, only three stories, and from what Tommy could tell, six separate flats.)

Behind the former deli, though, there was a space that has been formerly a small private parking lot. If Tommy went through the parking lot, on the other side he would be in the back of a butcher shop. This is where his plan came in.

For the past week, he had been keeping his eye on the time the butcher came to and left his shop. He appeared to be a short, tan-skinned young man who was always adorned with a beanie. From the conversations that Tommy had eavesdropped on, he had figured out that this butcher was from Mexico and that his name was Alex, and that the shop was privately owned.

The other thing that Tommy had learned from his observations was that Alex tended to come in around 9:00AM and would close shop at 7:30PM every night. He also seemed to take Saturdays off.

The most important part of Tommy’s plan had already been enacted. He had snuck through the back door of the shop while Alex was busy with customers, nabbed a spare key, and left. Now it was 9:00PM, well after Alex would usually close up shop for the night. The only issue was Tommy had never seen the man leave the shop with his own eyes on that night.

At the time, Tommy had been digging through a dumpster, before glancing up to the sky only to see that it was likely past 7:30PM. His first move was to sprint to the shop to try and see if he could see the butcher leaving, but unlucky as ever, he didn’t even see Alex walking down the road. Normally, he could just check to see if he had a car parked outside still, but from his observations he had learned that Alex also seemed to prefer walking to his shop in the morning.

So he was… naturally in a bit of a pickle.

According to what he had observed, the butcher would  _ usually  _ be empty by this time, but there was no way of knowing definitely.

The lights visible from the front window were all shut off, but there was no way of knowing if Alex was in the backroom, where Tommy specifically planned to go to try and take some of the pre-made meals that Alex had stored.

Regardless of all of these complications, the  _ last  _ words Tommy would use to describe himself were “patient and careful”. He wanted to get on with this operation so he could have a proper meal that night, so he discarded his worries.

He was situated in the parking lot behind the closed-down deli, eyeing the backdoor of the butcher. One, two, three more deep breaths, before he scaled the wall separating the two areas.

He winced at the sound of his weight hitting the ground, taking extra measures to stay light on his feet. He tentatively let his raccoon ears free, which were usually tucked into his head to avoid trouble. He could use the enhanced hearing abilities, though.

He pressed his dark brown ear to the door, trying to make out any noises coming from inside.

_ Nothing _ .

He sighed with hesitant relief, tucking his ears back into his head. He grabbed the key he had stolen earlier from his pocket, inserting it into the lock and grinning when it fit perfectly. He had been counting on the hope that this was the correct key.

Tommy flinched at the clicking of the lock. He steeled himself, taking a deep breath, before he gently started pushing open the door.

The lights were off.

Tommy nearly whooped with relief. Why had he gotten so winded up over this in the first place?

Anxiety now significantly lessened, he opened up the door fully and stepped inside. Now all he had to do was dig around a little bit, grab some sandwiches, and he’d be set with good food for ages! This-

His mind blanked. He had finally gotten a good look around the room, and right before him was Alex, passed out in a chair with his head resting on a desk. He had been hidden from Tommy’s field of vision during his first peek into the room.

Tommy considered bolting. Perhaps it was the smartest option- certainly the least risky one. Still, he was already there, and this was an opportunity…

He clenched and unclenched his fists, pushing aside his fears. He’d just need to be quick and quiet (and hope to the God he didn’t believe in that Alex was a deep sleeper.)

The next few minutes were a blur. He’d flinch at any noise he made, anxiously turning his head to look and see if Alex had woken up, and would stifle an exhale of relief.

And then-

_ Clang _ !

Oops.

He had hit his leg into a metal shelf, hard enough to bruise and make a ruckus. One glance at Alex, and- yep, he was fucked.

It took the butcher only a few moments to have his gaze fixed on Tommy, still bleary-eyed and delirious from sleep. Tommy took one glance at his bag of food, decided he had done well enough, and scrambled to the door, kicking aside things in his way.

Alex was shouting before he could even get out, and upon hearing the shouting Tommy felt a chill of fear. He couldn’t get caught- he didn’t want to get handed to the police, he didn’t want to be sent to another home.

He slung the bag over his shoulder, making quick work of scaling the wall. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Alex running around the wall, which gave Tommy a few extra seconds.

He scrambled through the dark parking lot, and-  _ shit, why did he go here, now this guy could see where he was staying- _ haphazardly crashed down the alleyway he had been sleeping in.

He could tell Alex wasn’t much farther back, though. He needed to think of something, quickly.

The first thing he came in contact with was the stairs up to the front of the flat block. This was a bad idea, a really really really bad idea-

Before he could stop himself to think of a more rational plan, though, he tugged on the handle of the closest door. Locked. The next one that he tried was locked too, but the third easily came open. He managed to slip inside and shut the door behind him before Alex could come around to the front of the block and see where he had gone.

His shoulders heaved with relief, and he sank down someone against the door, catching his breath after having to run. Still, this “solution” he had stupidly thought of meant plenty more different problems, the main one being that he had no fucking clue who was staying in this place.

At the very least people wouldn’t have a vendetta against him for having stolen their food, unlike Alex, who was likely still searching for him outside.

What kind of weirdo even keeps their door unlocked at night, anyway? He could be stuck in with an axe murderer, for all he knew.

Oh well. He had dug his own grave, time to lay in it.

He pushed himself back to his feet, having caught his breath, and made sense of his surroundings. It was an average flat. There was a cute little kitchen in the corner, a table with six empty chairs, a shelving unit for bags, shoes, and jackets, and a few doorways to other sections of the flat.

One of them appeared to lead to a rather generous TV room with a couch and some trays, and the other lead to a hallway full of more doors. Bedrooms, maybe?

So multiple people were staying here…

He tightened his grip on his bag of food. His curiosity was piqued now.

Tommy hesitantly walked down the hallway with doors. One of the doors closest to the entrance was partially open, showing a bathroom, while the rest were closed. All appeared to dark. All, except for one.

This door had sunlight peeking through the bottom slit of it, showing that someone in there was either awake, or had fallen asleep before they could turn off the light.

He contemplated taking his ears out so he could get a better listen to what was going on inside, but he figured it was best if he didn’t take that risk of being caught as a hybrid.

He didn’t need his special ears to hear what happened next, though.

Footsteps. Right from the room he had been looking at. The person was going towards their door, they were leaving their room-

Before he could see the door open, he shot down the hall into the room he had first stepped foot in. His breath caught in his throat. He should’ve just waited and left, and now he was standing terrified as he tried to find a place to hide.

His first move was to dive under the table next to the kitchen, shaking furiously at each noise the chairs made when he pushed them aside. The moment he was between them, though, he hugged his legs close to his chest, paying close attention to the volume of his breathing. He was fucked. He was  _ so fucked _ .

He didn’t have time to think about any of this, though. Not even five seconds after he had hidden under the table, the person had come into the room from the hall. Thanks to Tommy’s ability to see in the dark, he could see that this guy was… interesting, to say the least.

Stupidly tall, with a curly, floppy fringe hanging over the top of his face, a grey sweater, and black pegged pants. He appeared to be relatively young- maybe early twenties, and visibly exhausted judging from how he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

From what Tommy could tell, this guy wasn’t a hybrid- after all, hybrids have no reason to hide their traits when alone in the comfort of their own home, so he could only presume this man didn’t have the nocturnal vision that Tommy had. This led Tommy to a startling conclusion.

_ Fuck- don’t turn on the lights, don’t turn on the lights, don’t turn- _

Tommy restrained from flinching, having to squeeze his eyes shut and blink several times at the sudden light that the room was bathed in. He squinted out, seeing that this guy had gone to the kitchen while Tommy had adjusted himself to the sudden light.

Tommy watched him grab and peel a banana, feeling a jealous twinge as he thought about the bag still clenched in his hands.

He tried- keyword,  _ tried _ \- very very hard to be still. He really did! But that wasn’t as easy a task as it sounded, especially under that kind of stress. It really didn’t take him long for him to twitch sharply, having stayed still for too long. Ever the unlucky one, he had knocked into a chair, nudging it and causing a sharp  _ thump  _ to fill the silence of the room.

He immediately started panicking. There was no way the guy hadn’t heard that, what the fuck was he supposed to do?

His terror was amplified tenfold when he saw the man crouch down, his gaze landing on Tommy’s curled up form underneath the wooden table.

Tommy fell backwards, kicking aside chairs and scrambling back towards the wall, away from the guy who was now staring at him open-mouthed. He was hoping that this crashing nonsense wouldn’t wake up the entire house. He  _ really  _ hoped this guy wouldn’t start yelling.

To Tommy’s relief, though, the man didn’t immediately erupt in harsh words. He mostly just appeared startled and confused.

“I’m- I’m sorry, man, I’ll get out, I didn’t take anything, don’t- you can just ignore me-” Tommy tumbled over his words, feeling like his throat was closing up with each breath. It took him several moments to swallow back the tears that were threatening to come. He just needed to get out.

“Wait,” Tommy froze when the guy finally spoke up, his voice tone showing his startle as well. “I’m not really upset, as long as you haven’t done anything.”

Tommy’s movements slowed somewhat, and he finally looked up again to get another good look at this guy. His hands were raised, probably in some sort of attempt to calm Tommy down.

“I- um-” Tommy’s voice was hoarse, his mouth feeling incredibly dry and his throat feeling incredibly tight. He didn’t know what to do.

The man seemed to notice his stress. “Hey, hey, calm down. I’m not going to do anything to you, alright?” He paused, hesitantly stepping forward. “I’m Wilbur. I live here with my brother and dad. None of us are going to hurt you. Can I… Can I come closer?”

Tommy hugged his knees close to his chest, giving Wilbur a small, miniscule nod to give confirmation to his question. Wilbur scooted closer, now only being a few feet away from Tommy.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” Wilbur asked. He didn’t sound upset, just genuinely confused. Tommy couldn’t blame him. 

“Tommy,” he muttered softly, swallowing again to try and regain his ability to speak. “I had to get away from someone and the door was open.”

Judging from Wilbur’s expression, Tommy could tell that he’d probably be there for a little while.


	2. phil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ty for coming back!! i apologize for any errors and welcome any corrections

Wilbur seemed to think over what Tommy had said. He sat down, handing him the banana he hadn’t gotten to eating. Tommy stared at the food being offered to him, but quickly decided that it wouldn’t be in his best interest to start taking this guy’s food. Wilbur appeared to get the memo.

“Do you need me to call someone?” Wilbur asked with an inquisitive raised brow, taking a bite of the fruit in his hands. “The police? Parents?”

Tommy felt himself go cold. “No.”

He felt himself subconsciously edge further away from Wilbur upon seeing the displeased expression in response to Tommy’s lackluster response. “Are you running away from home or something?”

“No parents,” he muttered, hugging the bag in his grip closer to himself.

Tommy felt his stomach twist in a sick way upon seeing the sympathy on Wilbur’s face. He already wanted to punch this guy square in the nose. 

Once the thought popped into his head, he couldn’t help but entertain it. Maybe he could just kick this guy away and run- he’d have to find a new shelter, but he’d already been planning on doing that due to the run-in with the butcher. The best this guy was offering so far was pointless sympathy that just made Tommy feel a million times worse.

“Do you live with other relatives?” Wilbur leaned back a bit, presumably from sensing Tommy’s discomfort. He continued to eat.

“No,” Tommy muttered. “I… live alone.”

“Don’t you need to be 18 to live alone?” Tommy tensed up. He didn’t like how long this was going on for. “Or, are you 18? I assumed you weren’t.”

Tommy clenched his jaw, steeling himself. He didn’t want to be handed over to foster care or some shit like that, and he could already tell that’s what this guy was hinting at. 

The two sat in silence for a short while, Wilbur waiting for Tommy’s response, while Tommy readied himself.

_ Now or ever _ .

Tommy lurched forward, his fist connecting with Wilbur’s face. The taller man let out a startled yell, falling back into the chairs and knocking one over, resulting in a horrifyingly loud  _ crash  _ echoing around the entire flat.

Tommy couldn’t waste any time seeing what would happen next, though. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and scrambled to his feet. The moment he regained his balance, he sprinted over to the door of the flat, hand flying to the handle. To his surprise, though, the door wouldn’t move. Not inward or outward.

It took him a few moments of desperately handling the door handle before he realized that the door locked automatically, and it must’ve been partially open when he had first opened it to escape Alex.

_ Okay,  _ he felt sick. Really sick. Everything was crashing down.  _ Just unlock it. _

However, upon looking for the lock to turn, he realized he was failing to find it. Was the door broken? What the hell was going on?

He hastily looked around the room to try and see another exit. He noticed the window.

Tommy bolted over, grabbing a hold of the latch and pushing up the pane border as quickly as he could. This was taking way too long. He should’ve spent less time on the door.

As he was lifting his leg to crawl out, though, he heard a voice that stopped him dead in his tracks.

“What the hell is going on?”

He swung his head around to see another person. Wilbur was still on the floor, incessantly wiping at his nose to pick up the blood that was spurting from it. This new person was shorter, but most definitely older.

Most notably, though, this new man was very clearly a hybrid. The large, feathery black wings drooping behind him signified as much. Tommy had most definitely  _ not  _ expected to run into another hybrid when he had broken into this place.

Upon recovering from his surprise, Tommy remembered his objective; get the fuck out. Before he could completely squeeze both legs out the window, though, the man behind him spoke up again.

“Wait, wait! Hold on.”

Tommy despised the way he felt like he wanted to listen to this man. It was stupid. Maybe it was because he was another hybrid, but Tommy  _ really  _ wished he could get rid of it. Regardless, the older man’s words definitely made him slow down.

“Hey, hey, hey,” the man, who Tommy could now see was clothed in green, took a few tentative steps towards him. “Slow down, alright? I don’t know what happened, but I can tell something’s not right.”

Tommy’s grip on the window tightened. “Promise not to call the police?”

Tommy recognized a faint flicker of surprise flashing on the green man’s face before it was quickly covered up. “I won’t call anyone unless you ask. Nor will Will.”

He stepped away from the window. Maybe he could benefit from these people, as long as they didn’t report him…

“Why did you punch me?” Wilbur finally spoke up again, his voice nasally from pinching his nose to stop his nosebleed.

Tommy stiffened. “... nosy,” he lied.

“Do you need a place to sleep?” The other man resumed his speaking. “We have a couple extra rooms.”

Tommy avoided meeting either of the men’s gazes. “You’d let me?”

“Well, ideally I’d get to learn a bit about you beforehand, but if you need a place to stay then of course.” This man seemed… warm. In a kind, welcoming way. Tommy despised it.

When he offered a handshake, Tommy tentatively took it, unable to stop his hands from shaking and having to stifle an exhale upon feeling another person touching him. “I’m Tommy.”

The two dropped the handshake, By this point, Wilbur had gotten to his feet, and was hanging in the back to see how the situation would turn out. “Phil. Phil Watson. I live here with Wilbur and Techno.”

It took a lot of effort to restrain from asking questions about the name ‘Techno’. “I was… taking some things from the butcher's shop a bit over, and got caught. I had to run, and your flat was open, so… I decided to take the risk of coming in here to escape that guy.”

“Quackity’s shop?” Tommy felt a flicker of confusion at the unfamiliar name. “I assume you don’t have a home.”

Tommy anxiously fiddled with his hands, doing everything he could to keep from meeting Phil’s eyes. “No. I was staying in the alley next to here.”

Phil smiled, and Tommy hated it. It wasn’t a sympathetic, pitying smile, it was a genuine one, completely unpatronizing. Tommy would’ve preferred if Phil had made an expression that made him want to punch him, like Wilbur had. This was a lot worse.

“Would you like to stay here for a little bit? We have an extra room completely set up already. No worries about paying anything.”

Was there… really any cons to this? If he stayed for a little while, he had no shortage of food, a warm bed, even if it was just for a couple days, it’d be a luxury compared to what Tommy had grown accustomed to. It was probably in his best interest to accept. Probably.

“Okay,” Tommy mumbled. “That sounds good.”

Tommy found his gaze landing on Wilbur, who was still watching in silence, fingers pinched around his nose. At the very least, he didn’t look to be upset about the progression of the conversation. Of course, Tommy still had no idea how this ‘Techno’ guy would respond.

“Wilbur, go get a shower ready. He’ll probably fit best with Techno’s clothes. Also make sure the guest room is alright.”

Wilbur nodded, shooting one last tentative wave of his hand to Tommy before vanishing down the hall to do what Phil had asked of him. Tommy had remembered Wilbur mentioning he lived there with his father and brother, and judging from how they had been acting so far, he could only guess Phil was his father (obviously adoptive, too).

Resisting the urge to ask about how a shower would inevitably wake up the other person living there, Tommy warily set down the bag he had been holding onto the table. Phil appeared to notice his actions, and Tommy very reluctantly stepped back to allow Phil to inspect what was inside the bag.

“This is what you took from the shop?” Phil hummed, looking through the contents within the bag.

“Y-yeah,” Tommy swallowed. “When I snuck in, I realized he had fallen asleep in the back area, so I just took everything I could before I accidentally woke him up.”

“I see,” Tommy could hear the sound of the shower being turned on in the other room. “Giving this back will reveal that you came here, so I suppose we can keep these to avoid that.”

Tommy pressed his lips together in a line. Why was Phil being so generous? Why had he already decided to abandon the lawfully moral option to make sure Tommy wouldn’t get caught? Tommy didn’t know whether to feel thankful or confused.

His thoughts wandered back to Phil’s wings. Being a hybrid was dangerous. Not the kind where you were in life-threatening danger 24/7, but the kind where it’d be best if you kept that information to as few people as possible. Maybe Tommy could show his own hybrid aspects.

_ Too soon,  _ he reminded himself.  _ Not yet, if you ever do. _

Phil had begun unloading the bag of food, placing them into the fridge while quietly humming to himself. Tommy felt horribly out-of-place as he stood there, looking around the room.

“Your shower is probably ready,” Phil piped up, as if sensing Tommy’s discomfort. “I told Wilbur to leave clothes, so you should be set. Do you want to eat something before you sleep?”

Tommy’s attention was brought to the pang of hunger in his belly, reminding him of how he had been surviving on dumpster leftovers for the past week. “Yes, please.”

“Alright. Go ahead to the bathroom- it’s down the hall,” Phil clicked his tongue. “I’ll warm up one of these sandwiches for when you’re done. Then you can go to sleep.”

A sudden feeling of being overwhelmed briefly settled in Tommy. He had been able to score a decent place to stay for at least a night. Maybe it was for the better that he hadn’t been fast enough to get out through the window. Still, it was surprising. The prospect of showering in warm water, getting out to have a ready, prepared warm meal, and then going to sleep in a soft bed… what the fuck was going on?

The crashing sound of the shower brought him back to reality. He didn’t want the water to go cold because of his hesitation to just get on with the night.

With one more brief glance at Phil, he scampered towards the hall. He saw that the bathroom door was halfway opened, and Tommy was greeted by the warm steam emanating from the warmed up shower.

“Wait, hold on,” Tommy flinched in surprised upon hearing somebody behind him, backing up several feet and whirring around to see Wilbur. “You can use this toothbrush.”

Tommy frowned, looking down at Wilbur’s outstretched hand. In it, he held a red, unused toothbrush. Tommy snatched it, shuddering at the feeling of Wilbur’s hand. He really needed to get used to that.

To be honest, the idea of brushing his teeth had completely slipped Tommy’s mind, but he was glad he was given a chance.

Wilbur backed out, shutting the bathroom door behind him, leaving Tommy alone with his new toothbrush and the sound from the crashing downpour of the shower.

Tommy was in a place he hadn’t been in for years. It was… a lot.

The last time he’d been in this spot, it wasn’t nearly as calm. He’d been dreading leaving the bathroom the entire time; when he’d have to speak to the people outside over a meal. Now, though, he didn’t feel dread. He was scared, and nervous, and angry at himself, but for some reason he couldn’t imagine Phil ever intentionally hurting him. It was a long forgotten feeling. And it had settled all-too-fast.

Maybe Tommy was softening up. Maybe he was just unused to being treated this way. Either way, it was dangerous.

Tommy’s attention snapped back to reality. He had a brief thought about how he didn’t want the water to run cold, so he undressed himself to get in the shower.

He flinched at the burning feeling of the water, way too hot for his liking. As nice as it was in here, and as much as he liked that he was cleaning himself after so long, he figured that Phil could grow irritable with him if he took too long.

Without further ado, he located the soap and got to cleaning himself. The feeling of all the filth that had been collecting on him was a relief. Tommy didn’t really mind bad smells, but it became a big issue when he tried to talk to other people.

Halfway through, he let his raccoon features slip out as well, so he could wash out his tail and ears as well. He only stopped scrubbing when he stopped seeing brown bits in the water.

Once he was satisfied with what he had done, he turned the shower off. The absence of the warm water gave him a chill that was enough to make his teeth chatter. He wasted no time in stepping out of the shower, grabbing the nearest towel and beginning to dry his body and hair.

He glanced at his tail, faintly wondering whether he’d be able to groom it or not. It was puffy and still dripping in some spots, but he figured that it wouldn’t be worth making Phil wait longer and get confused, especially considering he must’ve heard the water turn off.

After he hid his animal features and was putting on the clothes (apparently they were Techno’s) he realized that they hung off of his lanky frame by quite a bit. Still, they were something, and clean clothes were a luxury for Tommy.

Tommy spent a few moments peeking out of the bathroom doorway to assure himself that he wouldn’t get startled by anyone unexpected. After seeing the hall empty, he hesitantly stepped out and turned the corner to return to the main room where Phil had been the last time he saw him.

Sure enough, Phil was sitting at the table. In front of another chair presumably for Tommy was a plate with a sandwich with a thin trail of steam coming from it.

Phil must’ve heard Tommy approaching, because he twisted his head around. Tommy froze, awaiting Phil’s reaction.

To his relief though, Phil just gave him a tired smile and beckoned him over to the table. Once Tommy was sat in his designated chair, he readily started eating the warm meal that had been prepared for him.

“Can we talk a bit while you eat?”

Tommy’s actions slowed. He wasn’t really in the mindset for a conversation. “Sure.”

“Are you okay if I ask some questions?” Phil rested his chin on his palm. “You can opt out of anything you don’t want to answer.”

Tommy shrugged, hoping it was enough of a confirmation. “So I was wondering how old you are.”

Tommy stared at his food, his expression blanking. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Phil echoed, seeming to retract into his thoughts. “Do you know your birth year? Or how old you were when you started living alone?”

Tommy chewed and swallowed his bite before replying, thinking hard to try and remember any possible details. “I think I was eleven when I started living alone. Until then I had been in foster care,” he paused once more, deep in thought. “Since then, I’ve seen… three winters?”

Phil hummed. “So you’re probably around 14. Do you know your birthday?”

“Yeah, it’s- it’s April 9th,” he neglected mentioning that he hadn’t celebrated it for awhile due to being unable to keep track of the precise date every day.

“Your 15th birthday is pretty soon,” Phil remarked.

“It is?” This was news to Tommy.

“Yeah, it’s-” he quickly checked his phone. “February 17th. To be fair, it’s still a month and a half away.”

Tommy didn’t reply. He was staring at his empty plate, feeling somewhat guilty for having eaten that entire meal so quickly. The feeling of belly being full was definitely worth it, though.

“Do you wanna go to bed?” Phil interrupted his thoughts, grabbing the empty plate and getting out of his chair to take it to the sink.

The timespan between where Tommy nodded, brushed his teeth, and collapsed in bed was a blur. The moment the prospect of sleep was brought up, he remembered how tired he was. The warm bed was the cherry on top.

Once he was buried under the covers, he rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms tightly around a pillow, curling up somewhat. It didn’t take long for his eyes to droop too much to stay open, and shortly after he was deep asleep.

He didn’t notice when Phil peeked his head in for a few seconds, his expression hidden in the shadows, nor did he notice him tiptoe in and place a cup of cold water on the bedside table, before tiptoeing back out and softly closing the door.


End file.
